Flying Home for Christmas
by its-amagicalplace
Summary: When her flight home to see her daughter gets delayed by several hours, Melinda sets about mentally preparing herself for a whole lot of waiting. But the guy opposite keeps glancing at her, and before she knows it they're sat together, discussing their lives over coffee and cake.


_"Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry to announce, that flight GH325 to New York, has been delayed by approximately three hours."_

Melinda groaned, shaking her head at the announcement, before wandering across the terminal, sighing as she sat herself down upon a worn blue chair, and placing her bag next to her.

Delayed. Just what she wanted.

She guessed that was what she got for leaving her flight home till the last minute, returning on December 23rd. Skye had told her to book one for earlier in the week, but she had insisted it would be fine and she needed to get her work finished before leaving.

As usual, Skye had been right.

Melinda pulled her phone out of her bag, and dialed her daughter's number, registering vaguely as somebody took the seat opposite her in the lounge.

Skye answered on the third ring.

"Hey Mom, are you alright?"

Just hearing her daughter's voice made her smile, and Melinda could have sworn there were Christmas songs playing in the background.

"Yeah, hey Skye, bad news."

"Please tell me you are actually coming home?"

"Of course." Melinda rolled her eyes; she might have been a little bit preoccupied lately, but she wasn't going to miss spending Christmas with her daughter and son-in-law. "But the flight's delayed."

She could hear Skye groan on the other end of the line.

"How long by?"

"Three hours."

Three what could be very long and painful hours too… thank goodness she had thrown her e-reader into her bag at the last minute.

"That sucks!"

"I know," she sighed, glancing around the departure hall to see if there was actually anything she could do for the next few hours, her eyes accidentally meeting those of the man sat opposite her. He looked away quickly when their gazes met. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Skye replied. "One sec..."

Melinda could hear her talking to who she guessed was Antoine in the background for a moment, and she imagined what they would be doing. Christmas Eve Eve; they were probably baking something or watching films together. She knew Skye had already finished work for the holiday period, and Antoine, whilst on call from the hospital, had promised to be there for as much time as he could manage.

"Alright," she continued, coming back to the phone. "Trip and I will come pick you up when you actually land"

"I can get a taxi, Skye."

She wasn't going to make her daughter come out to get her in the early hours of the morning, especially at seven months pregnant; she should just stay in bed where it was warm.

"You'll do no such thing," Skye scolded, and Melinda was once more reminded of how stubborn she was; like mother like daughter. "It's Christmas Mom, it'll be like double fare anyway."

"Fine, thank you. I'll let you know when we finally board."

"Okay, love you Mom."

"Love you too."

Melinda hung up the phone with a small smile, before sighing, glancing back around the hall to see if anything had changed within the last five minutes.

Nothing.

Except… the guy opposite her was staring again, but when she looked at him, he glanced away once more.

* * *

An hour later, and Melinda threw her e-reader into her bag with a sigh. Three quarters of the way through the book that was currently keeping her interest, and the battery was flat - that was definitely one of the downsides to using it, instead of an actual book. Whilst yes, they were so much more convenient than carrying loads of books around on her travels, the fact she kept forgetting to plug the thing in actually made it worse in many ways.

If Skye were there, she would probably know some way to get the book onto her phone or something; she was always amazing with computers and technology. But she wasn't, so Melinda sat back at sighed again.

So, two hours to go, with nothing to do. And that was assuming the delay wasn't increased.

"Are you alright?"

The voice travelling across from the seat opposite brought her out of her grumpy daydream, and Melinda found the guy who had been staring at her now looking slightly concerned.

"Yeah, sorry, it's just been a long day."

"Delayed?"

She nodded a little, trying not to focus on how blue his eyes were. "Three hours… well, two now."

"That sucks," he replied, smiling sympathetically. "Sorry."

Melinda shrugged; there was nothing anyone could do about it. "What about you?"

"Been here three already, got at least another four to go."

"Ouch" she winced, regretting her complaints about only a three hour wait.

"Yeah," he laughed slightly. "Blame the snowstorm that decided to hit without warning."

The guy gazed at her for a moment, almost as though he were mentally debating whether to say something, but he seemed to change his mind, hesitating, and looking away again, returning to his tablet.

Melinda frowned. "What?"

"I just… I was going to go and get a coffee from that café down there," he gestured somewhere behind her. "And I was wondering if you would like one?"

"I… no thank you, I don't like coffee…"

"I can get tea?"

He had stood, and was smiling at her hopefully, hands shoved in his pockets, and for some reason she couldn't comprehend - maybe she just didn't want to spend the next few hours alone - Melinda found herself standing up too, nodding to him slightly with a small smile.

"Tea would be great."

"Earl Grey, chamomile, fruit, green?" he asked happily, as they began to walk towards the small coffee shop within the hall itself, the warm aroma of coffee and cake drifting out towards them as the arrived.

"Green, please."

Chamomile in particular had a habit of sending her to sleep, and the last thing she needed would be to miss her flight when it finally departed because she was napping on one of the chairs at the gate.

He nodded, and headed over to order, whilst she took a seat at one of the small tables inside.

"It's Phil, by the way" he said a few minutes later as he sat back down, placing a steaming mug of green tea in front of her, a rich creamy coffee in front of himself, and a plate with two danish pastries in between them. She looked at them questioningly, and he - Phil - simply shrugged, grinning slightly. "One each, it's almost Christmas after all."

That it was. There was a white fibre-optic tree stood in the corner of the café, a single silver star upon the top, and a sole strand of fairylights across the top of the window. Melinda was pretty sure she could also make out the faint sound of Christmas songs being played through a speaker system above them somewhere, but the flight announcements of the day were continuously interrupting the songs.

"Thank you" she replied simply, picking up the mug and letting the heat warm her fingers. Despite being indoors, it wasn't exactly a comfortable temperature, and she was thankful she had thought to travel with her jacket.

"No problem," he smiled at her.

He had a nice smile, she thought; it went well with his eyes.

"So, where abouts are you heading?"

Melinda took a sip of her tea, scalding her tongue in the process, and proceeding to blow cooler air into the mug, the surface of the drink rippling slightly. "New York, I'm going home to see my daughter and her husband."

Phil looked at her, his eyebrows raising slightly.

Melinda frowned. "What?"

"It's just… you don't look old enough to have a married daughter." He shrugged his shoulders with an abashed smile, pulling a chunk out of one of the pastries to distract his hands.

"I… I guess I should take that as a compliment" she laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear to stop it going into her tea.

"You should."

"They're expecting a baby in a few months too," she added with a wry smile, watching his face to see the reaction.

His eyes widened. "Okay, you definitely do not look old enough to be a grandmother!"

She took another drink of tea, hiding her smirk with the mug and watching him chew thoughtfully.

"It is a bit strange" she admitted. "I had her when I was young, so I don't feel old enough, and yet my baby is having a baby and -"

She stopped, wondering why she was rambling her life out to somebody who was essentially a stranger; he was listening intently, as though he were genuinely interested in what she was telling him, but she changed the subject anyway, never having been the most comfortable when it came to discussing herself and her life.

"What about you?"

He seemed to sense her desire to move on, so he bought her conversation change with ease. "I'm going back to Ohio, to visit my mother."

"That should be lovely." It also reminded her she should call her own mother, once she got back home.

"Yeah," he nodded, but Melinda got the feeling he wasn't quite sure. "She'll probably ask me again why I'm not married yet…"

"Oh. Are you engaged?" She realised at his words that she was kind of hoping he wasn't. Which was ridiculous, because she hardly knew the man, but this was easy, and it flowed, and… and she needed to get a grip.

"No," he shook his head. "But my sister is eight years younger, but is already married with kids, and I guess she just wants me to find somebody, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess I can understand that."

Melinda sipped her tea absently, going back through memories she hadn't accessed in years. She remembered how her own mother had been so happy when Melinda had told her she was to marry; when it collapsed she spent years filled with regret. But it resulted in Skye, and she was the most important person in Melinda's world, so on that front, she couldn't regret a thing.

"Are you?"

His question brought her back to herself, and Melinda couldn't help but notice the faint trace of hope in his voice. She took a gulp of tea before shaking her head.

"Not anymore."

"I'm sorry" he replied sincerely, finishing the last of his coffee and returning the mug to the table.

"Don't be."

She smiled at him, before taking a piece of the pastry left in front of her. The sweetness of the sugar encrusted top went well with the taste of tea, and she found herself sucking the crystals from her fingertips once she'd finished.

"Would you like another?" Phil asked, indicating to her now empty cup.

She glanced down at it before meeting his eyes, seeing the smile lingering across his face.

"Yes please. But this time, I'm paying."

* * *

_"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are pleased to announce, that flight GH325 to New York, is now reading for boarding. Please make your way immediately to gate number 41."_

Melinda looked up to Phil at the notice of her flight, finding that his smile had already faltered at the announcement.

"That's me" she said quietly, smiling softly at him but not moving. "I should head over to the gate."

"Yeah, no, of course," he rambled slightly, downing the last of his third coffee and placing it onto the table once more, before glancing back over to her. "Can… could I get your number?" he asked her timidly, running a hand back through his hair. "And maybe we could meet up again sometime, maybe if we're in the same state or something?"

Melinda smiled. "I'd like that."

She was surprised at how much she actually would like that; Skye was always telling her to take a chance and just go for things, and now here she was, impulsively drinking coffee with a guy she'd only just met, and planning to meet him again.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Melinda nodded, before reaching out and picking up his phone from the table in front of him. It wasn't passworded, so she simply opened his phonebook and typed her details, wondering briefly whether to add a surname or just to leave it as "Melinda".

She told herself to get a grip, before typing "May" after her name. He didn't seem like a creepy stalker; it'd be okay.

She handed his phone back and grabbed her bag from the floor beside her chair, standing as he did, before they awkwardly stood facing each other.

"Well, thanks for…. this" Melinda said quietly, gesturing at their table and between them both. "Not how I thought I'd spend the delay, but -"

"But it was fun" he grinned, and she was once more reminded how much she was liking that smile.

"Yeah it was."

Phil grabbed his own bag from the floor, swinging it over his shoulder. "Can I walk you to your gate?"

She nodded in response, and the two headed across the terminal, pausing to check on whether the delay to his own flight had been reduced or not. It hadn't, but Phil didn't seem to mind as much as he had done a few hours earlier.

"So, I'll give you a call, sometime" Phil said, as they reached her gate and he turned to face her. "It might be a few weeks…"

"You know," she replied, glancing up at him, "next time you see me I'll probably be a grandmother." Melinda laughed, smiling widely at how wonderful this Christmas would be.

"You have a beautiful smile, you know that?" he murmured quietly, watching as she glanced back up to him, eyes wide, before seemingly making a split-second decision.

Pausing momentarily, Melinda leaned up onto her tiptoes, and placed a gentle kiss against his cheek, letting her lips linger for a moment against the scruff of his unshaven face.

"Thank you, Phil" she replied, before turning away, and disappearing through the gate, and onto her plane.

He watched her leave, before heading back through the terminal, still feeling the trace of her lips against his skin.

Maybe getting delayed wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

**This was written for the Philinda AU Festive Challenge on Tumblr, hosted by philindaau**


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